Angelo State University

Ashlyn Lerma of Highland Village, a senior on the Angelo State University Rambelles softball team, has earned 2023 All-South Central Region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). The Belle's second baseman, Lerma was named to the all-region first team - and this marks the third straight year she has earned NFCA all-region recognition. She led the team in batting average (.372) and hits (61) this season, and her 58 stolen bases tied the ASU single-season record and currently leads all of NCAA Division II. In her final season for the Belles, Lerma has also been named to the All-Lone Star Conference first team and LSC All-Academic Team, and she earned her third straight LSC Golden Glove. She finishes her ASU career ranked second all-time in stolen bases (146), fourth in runs scored (187) and walks (124), and seventh in on-base percentage (.472). See more details at angelosports.com.

Angelo State University tennis players Ramitha Irrinki of Round Rock and Eva Schwartz of L'isle-Sur-La-Sorgue, France, have been selected to the 2022-23 Academic All-District Team by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) organization. To be eligible, student-athletes must have attended their institution for at least a calendar year, competed in more than 50% of their team's contests, and have at least a 3.5 a grade point average (GPA). Irrinki is a sophomore biology major who went 18-3 in singles and 13-11 in doubles this season. Schwartz is a junior international business major who went 18-5 in singles and 20-3 in doubles. They helped lead the ASU Rambelles to the Lone Star Conference Tournament final and a berth in the NCAA D-II South Central Regional. Both will now be eligible for the CSC Academic All-America Team. See more details at angelosports.com.

Angelo State University's chapter of the Alpha Chi national honor society recently inducted its spring 2023 class of 34 new student members during a special initiation ceremony in the Houston Harte University Center. Alpha Chi is one of the nation's most prestigious collegiate honor societies that is open to students majoring in all academic disciplines. To be eligible, students must rank in the top 10% of seniors or in the top 7.5% of juniors at their college or university. See the full list of inductees, listed by their hometowns, at angelo.edu/news.

Four players on the Angelo State University Rambelles softball team have earned All-Lone Star Conference honors for their performances during the 2023 regular season. Second baseman Ashlyn Lerma of Highland Village and third baseman Paxton Sheurer of Mansfield were named to the All-LSC first team. First baseman Bailey Martinez of Albuquerque, N.M., was named to the All-LSC second team, and pitcher Genesis Armendariz of Hobbs, N.M., was named to the All-LSC third team. Lerma leads the Belles with a .377 batting average and leads NCAA Division II in steals with 58. She is also tied for the ASU single-season record for steals. Scheurer is hitting .321 with a team-high 15 homers and 51 RBI. Martinez is hitting .341 overall, and her .366 batting average in LSC play is tops on the team. Armendariz has a 14-11 record with 11 complete games and 106 strikeouts in 140.2 inning pitched. This markes the third All-LSC honor for Lerma, the second for Scheurer and Armendariz, and the first for Martinez. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Angelo State University Rambelles softball players Ashlyn Lerma of Highland Village and Keilei Garcia of Hemet, Calif., have both earned Lone Star Conference Golden Glove Awards for the defensive play during the 2023 regular season. Lerma, a senior second baseman, wins her third straight Golden Glove. She owns a .990 fielding percentage and has recorded 117 putouts and 75 assists. She was also named to the All-LSC first team and LSC All-Academic Team. Garcia, a junior catcher, earns her second straight Golden Glove. She has a .987 fielding percentage and has thrown out 11 stolen base attempts, second-best in the LSC. Lerma and Garcia are also two of only three players to start all 53 games for the Rambelles this season - and ASU is one of only two teams to have multiple 2023 Golden Glove winners. The Rambelles continue their season this week at the LSC Tournament. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Ashlyn Lerma of Highland Village and Paxton Scheurer of Mansfield, infielders on the Angelo State University Rambelles softball team, have been named to the Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team for their performance on the field and in the classroom during the 2023 season. Lerma, a senior second baseman, has already earned her ASU undergraduate degree in finance and is pursuing her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. This is her third straight year to make the LSC All-Academic Team. On the field, she leads the Belles with a .377 batting average and leads all of NCAA Division II with 58 stolen bases. Scheurer, a senior third baseman, has already earned her ASU undergraduate degee in psychology and is set to receive her ASU master's degree in industrial/organizational psychology. This is her second straight LSC All-Academic Team selection. On the field, she is batting .321 with a team-high 15 homers and 51 RBI. Lerma and Scheurer are the only teammates to make the 2023 LSC All-Academic Team. The Belles continue their season this week at the LSC Tournament. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Angelo State University has announced its Presidential Award and Distinguished Student Awards winners for the Class of 2023 that will graduate later this month. They will be recognized at ASU's May 12-13 commencement ceremonies. Emily Maxey of Phoenix, Ariz., has been selected to receive the 2023 Presidential Award as the top graduate in her class. Five other ASU graduating seniors have been selected for Distinguished Student Awards from their respective academic colleges. See the full news release at angelo.edu/news.

Emily Maxey of Phoenix, Ariz., has been selected to receive Angelo State University's 2023 Presidential Award as the top graduate in her class, and she will be recognized at ASU's May 12-13 commencement ceremonies. Emily Maxey was nominated by the Department of Physics and Geosciences. She is a physics and computer science double major with mathematics minor, and she graduates with High University Honors after completing the Honors Program curriculum. She received numerous scholarships, including the ASU Distinguished Scholarship, Distinguished Honors Scholarship, Alvin New Family Honors Scholarship, Chase Physics Scholarship and Dr. Mills Memorial Scholarship. Her stellar academic performance earned her induction into the Sigma Pi Sigma national physics honor society. She was also actively engaged in campus affairs, serving as secretary and president of the Honors Student Association and outreach coordinator for the Society of Physics Students, and participating in the Women in Physics organization. She also served the Department of Computer Science as a tutor and Summer Code Camp instructor. Maxey excelled in undergraduate research, earning two separate Undergraduate Faculty-Mentored Research Grants and presenting at regional and national physics, science and honors conferences. Additionally, she secured highly competitive external placements, including a Research Experience for Undergraduates in applied computing at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and a software engineering internship with the Data Science and Machine Learning Team at CarMax's technology hub in Richmond, Virginia. She has been awarded a Distinguished Graduate Student Assistantship to pursue a Ph.D. in physics at Texas Tech University and plans to pursue a career in university teaching and research. See the full news release at angelo.edu/news.

Six members of the Angelo State University Rams and Rambelles track and field teams swept three of the four Lone Star Conference Athlete of the Week honors for Week 7 of the outdoor season ending April 30. Shiean Walters of Lubbock was named the LSC Women's Track Athlete of the Week, Abby Zamzow of Bowie was named the LSC Women's Field Athlete of the Week, and the Rams 4x400-meter relay team was named the LSC Men's Track Athletes of the Week. All competed at the Oliver Jackson Invitational in Abilene. Walters took first place in the 400 meters with a time of 53.73. Zamzow took third in the triple jump with a mark of 40-5.5 (12.33 meters), an NCAA Division II provisional mark. The Rams 4x400-meter relay team took first place with a time of 3:10.05. The Rams 4x400-meter relay team includes Prince Frimpong of Kumasi, Ghana; Bossman Pinkrah of Accra, Ghana; Emmett Seals Jr. of Rowlett; and Oussama El Bouchayby of Marrakesh, Morocco. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Cameron Poole of Kerrville, a senior animal science major at Angelo State University, was selected to represent ASU and present her research project at the recent 2023 Texas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol event in Austin. The event only takes place in odd-numbered years when the Texas Legislature is in session. Each institute of higher education in Texas is allowed to select one student to present a research poster project. Poole presented her research poster on her project titled "The Effects of Chelated Minerals on Conception Rates in Rambouillet Ewes," which she completed under the mentorship of Audrey Meyer, ASU instructor in agriculture. Poole is scheduled to graduate with her bachelor's degree in May. She is minoring in biology and chemistry, and she plans to earn her ASU master's degree before heading to medical school. See more details at angelo.edu/news.

William "Will" Hollis of Brady, a student official in Angelo State University's intramurals program, earned All-America honors as one of the top student officials at the recent 2023 NIRSA National Basketball Championships at the University of Maryland. Over 30 student officials refereed games between 60 participating college and university intramural basketball teams at the national tournament. Hollis is the first-ever ASU student official to be named an All-American for basketball. A 2021 ASU alum, Hollis is now a graduate student in ASU's coaching, sport, recreation and fitness administration program. He earned the right to officiate at the national tournament by being selected as one of the top three student officials at the NIRSA Region IV Basketball Tournament in February at the University of Missouri. See more details at angelo.edu/news.

Talena Murray of Carnbee, Trinidad and Tobago, a senior on the Angelo State University Rambelles track and field team, has been named the Lone Star Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Week for Week 6 of the outdoor season ending April 23. Competing at the McMurry Invitational in Abilene, Murray won the javelin with a throw of 146'8" (44.70 meters). Her throw was also an NCAA Division II provisional mark and ranks eighth overall in the division this season. Murray and her teammates are back in action this weekend at the Oliver Jackson Twilight meet in Abilene as a final preparation for the LSC Outdoor Championships May 4-6 in Lubbock. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Angelo State University honored its 2023 Outstanding Graduate Students, as well as the recipients of four superlative awards, during the annual Graduate Research Symposium and Awards Ceremony in the Houston Harte University Center. The honorees were nominated by faculty in their respective academic departments, and each received a certificate of recognition. Additionally, winners of the four superlative awards were selected from among the Outstanding Graduate Students by a separate committee. See more details and a complete list of honorees at angelo.edu/news.

Angelo State University's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Norris-Vincent College of Business have announced the winners of the 2023 BizPitch student entrepreneurship competition following the recent live finals event in the LeGrand Alumni and Visitors Center. The BizPitch competition began in January when individual ASU students or teams of up to four students were invited to submit video pitches of their ideas for new business startups. A panel of ASU business faculty and SBDC specialists selected five finalists to make live pitch presentations to a panel of judges made up of local business professionals. Competing for cash prizes, the finalists each made eight-minute live presentations to the judges and answered judges' questions during the finals event. The cash prizes are for the winners to use as seed money for their new ventures. See more details and a complete list of the winners at angelo.edu/news.

Jackson Berry of Waco, a junior pitcher on the Angelo State University Rams baseball team, has been named the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week for Week 12 of the season ending April 23. Called on as a last-minute starter in Game 2 of ASU's doubleheader against St. Edward's on April 22, Berry tossed a complete game to lead the Rams to a 7-1 victory. He scattered five hits over seven innings with just one walk and seven strikeouts to improve his record to 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA. The victory also clinched the LSC regular-season title for the Rams, who will wrap up the regular season this weekend with a 4-game road series at West Texas A&M. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Angelo State University's Ram Powerlifting Club brought home three awards, including one national championship, from the 2023 U.S.A. Powerlifting Collegiate National Meet in Arlington. Melissa Nunez of Monahans won the Gold Medal in the 97-pound weight class of the Women's Collegiate Raw contest to earn a national title for ASU. Natalie Walker of Greenville took third place in the Women's Collegiate Raw 105-pound weight class - and the Ram Powerlifting women's team placed fourth overall in the team competition. Also contributing to the fourth-place team medal were Marissa Nunez of Monahans, Annabelle Butts of Lubbock, Emily Ramos of Poteet, Kira Palmer of San Augustine and Kylie Bliton of Florence. See more details at angelo.edu/news.

Sawyer Lloyd of Wall, a junior guard on the Angelo State University Belles basketball team, has been named the 2022-23 Small College Women's Player of the Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC). The TABC award is just the latest for Lloyd, who has already earned multiple All-America accolades, as well as being named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Academic Player of the Year. Currently pursuing her master's degree in coaching, sport, recreation and fitness administration, Lloyd helped lead the Belles to a LSC Tournament title and to the round of 32 in the NCAA Division II Tournament by averaging 15.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.8 steals per game. Belles assistant coach Andy Ellis joined Lloyd in earning TABC honors as Small College Assistant Coach of the Year. See more details at angelosports.com.

Maria Sierra Sanz of Gijon, Spain, a senior on the Angelo State University Rambelles golf team, has been named to the All-Lone Star Conference first team for her performances during the 2022-23 season. Building on her All-LSC honorable mention season in 2021-22, Sierra Sanz claimed two individual titles this season. She placed first at the Concho River Classic in September 2022 and at the King Alfred Spring Invitational in March. She also helped lead the Belles to four top-four team placings this spring while averaging 75 strokes per round, and she is currently ranked No. 42 in NCAA Division II. Sierra Sanz and her teammates are competing at the LSC Championships this week and hoping to solidify their regional ranking to qualify for the NCAA D-II West Regional. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Dianela Rodriguez of Mexico City, Mexico, a senior on the Angelo State University Belles tennis team, has been named the Lone Star Conference Women's Player of the Week for Week 11 of the season ending April 16. As the Belles won their final two matches of the regular season over Dallas Baptist and UT Tyler, Rodriguez went 4-0, winning at No. 1 singles and No. 3 doubles in both matches. She improved her singles record to 15-3 to lead Angelo State to a runner-up finish in the LSC standings. Her Player of the Week award is the icing on the cake for Rodriguez, who earlier this week was named the LSC Women's Player of the Year and Senior of the Year. The Belles are back in action today against UT Tyler in the quarterfinals of the LSC Tournament. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Letizia Corsini of Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy, a freshman on the Angelo State University Belles tennis team, has been named the 2022-23 Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year. Heading into the LSC Tournament, Corsini is 16-4 overall in singles and has a 6-2 conference record. She was also named to the All-LSC second team for singles, and she is ranked No. 55 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Additionally, Corsini teamed with senior Dianela Rodriguez of Mexico City, Mexico, in doubles, and they earned All-LSC Honorable Mention as a doubles team. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Angelo State University's chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) national honor society recently inducted its spring 2023 class of 47 new student members during a special initiation ceremony in the Houston Harte University Center. PKP is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for students in all academic disciplines. Invitations to join PKP are extended to juniors in the top 7.5% of their class, and to seniors and graduate students in the top 10% of their class. See the full list of inductees, listed by their hometowns, at angelo.edu/news.

Dianela Rodriguez of Mexico City, Mexico, a senior on the Angelo State University Belles tennis team, has been named the 2022-23 Lone Star Conference Women's Player of the Year and Senior of the Year. It's her second straight Player of the Year award. Rodriguez won eight matches in No. 1 singles and seven at No. 3 doubles in LSC play to lead the Belles to a runner-up finish in the LSC regular-season standings (7-2). She won in straight sets against six nationally-ranked conference opponents, and she is ranked No. 14 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in singles. She is just the third player in LSC history to win consecutive Player of the Year awards. Additionally, Rodriguez was named to the All-LSC first team for singles. She also teamed with Letizia Corsini of Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy, in doubles, and the pair earned All-LSC Honorable Mention as a doubles team. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Fourteen Angelo State University student-athletes were honored with 2022-23 Holland's Awards at the ASU Athletics Department's annual Holland's Sports Banquet on April 18. One Holland's Award winner is selected for each ASU sport as voted on by their teammates for exmplifying what it means to be an ASU student-athlete in competition, in the classroom and in the community. See more details and the entire list of award winners at angelosports.com.

Ramitha Irrinki of Round Rock, a junior on the Angelo State University Belles tennis team, has been named to the Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team for her performance on the court and in the classroom during the 2022-23 season. The LSC All-Academic team is chosen by the league's sports information directors based on both athletic and academic achievement. To be eligible, student-athletes must have played in at least 50% of the team's contests, reached sophomore athletic and academic standing, completed at least one full academic year at the nominating institution and have a minimum 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale for their entire collegiate career. A kinesiology major, Irrinki is a regular on the ASU Dean's List and the LSC Commissioner's Honor Roll, and she was named a 2022 Scholar-Athlete by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. On the court this season, she is 15-2 overall in singles and 6-1 in the LSC. She is also 11-9 in doubles paired primarily with Ayda Guler of Sydney, Australia. See more details on the LSC website.

Kaylen Shetler of Chesapeake, Va., a junior in the Angelo State University Honors Program, has received the 2022-23 Robert A. Kilmarx Award for the Best Military, Intelligence or National Security Strategic Analysis Paper from the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) in Washington, D.C. An intelligence and analysis/mathematics double-major, Shetler won the Kilmarx Award for her paper titled "Defining Weapons of Mass Destruction in a New Age of Cyberwarfare." The award also includes a $1,000 prize and publication of her paper in the CSPC online anthology, The Fellows Review, this summer. Shetler submitted her paper as the centerpiece of her 2022-23 CSPC Presidential Fellowship, and she is one of only five students out of a cohort of 48 Fellows to be selected for an award. See more details at angelo.edu/news.

Halle Summers of Spring, a biology major at Angelo State University, won a research presentation award at the Beta Beta Beta (Tri-Beta) national biological honor society's South Central Regional Convention in Cedar Hill. Students from throughout the region delivered oral or poster presentations of their research projects in several different sessions. Summers won second place in her session for her oral presentation on her research project titled "DNA Barcoding of Peromyscus from the Davis Mountains in Texas." She and her fellow ASU chapter members were also named the Outstanding Chapter in District 2 for the 2022-23 academic year. District 2 includes all the college and university Tri-Beta chapters in Texas. Additionally, the ASU chapter won first place for its scrapbook entry in the Outstanding Chapter History competition, earned a first-place prize for Number of Delegates, and was also honored for acting as host for the regional convention. See more details at angelo.edu/news.

Angelo State University track and field athletes Maricia Spence of Christiana, Jamaica, and Elvis Krykov of Limassol, Cyprus, have swept the Lone Star Conference Field Athlete of the Week honors for Week 4 of the outdoor season ending April 9. Spence was named LSC Female Field Athlete of the Week after winning the heptathlon at ASU's annual David Noble Relays. She finished with 5,513 points, the best mark in all of NCAA Division II this season. She also posted a leap of 20'-0.5" (6.11 meters) to win the heptathlon's long jump event, the sixth-best in NCAA D-II this season. Kryukov was named LSC Male Field Athlete of the Week after winning the decathlon at the David Noble Relays. He had the top marks in the discus and the javelin on his way to 7,296 points, the best decathlon result in all of NCAA D-II this season. Both the ASU Rams and Rambelles claimed first place overall at their home meet. They will be back in action on April 27 at the Oliver Jackson Twilight meet in Abilene. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

Seven Angelo State University theatre students have been either selected or nominated for prestigious individual awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region 6 for their work on the ASU Theatre production, "Equus," earlier this spring. In all, "Equus" earned 10 individual and group honors, including recognition for Excellence in Overall Company Collaboration. The individual student awards include: Charlotte Branch of Bartlett - Excellence in Sound Design Emma Cullen of Ballinger - Excellence in Lighting Design Kailey Gembler of Bandera - Excellence in Stage Management Darcy Saucedo of Austin - Excellence in Scenic Design Additionally, three ASU student actors were nominated for Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships, with scholarship winners to be announced at the KCACTF Region 6 Festival: Nataniel Brown-Schilling of Harker Heights Genesis Garza of McAllen Grant Jackson of Benjamin ASU staff costumer Mayra Torres and her student Costume Design Team were also recognized for Excellence in Horse Head Design. ASU Theatre will be notified in December whether "Equus" has been selected for performance at the KCACTF Region 6 Festival in Abilene next spring. See more details at angelo.edu/news.

Devoux Deysel of Garsfontein, South Africa, and Oussama El Bouchayby of Marrakech, Morocco, members of the Angelo State University Rams track and field team, have been named the Lone Star Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week and Track Athlete of the Week, respectively, for Week 3 of the outdoor season ending April 2. Deysel earned LSC Field Athlete of the Week honors after finishing seventh in the javelin at the Texas Relays in Austin. His throw of 244'-0" (74.37 meters) ranks second overall in NCAA Division II this year and 52nd in the world. El Bouchayby continued his impressive haul of honors with the LSC Track Athlete of the Week award. Also at the Texas Relays, he won the 800 meters with a time of 1:45.31, the fastest time in the world this year. It's also the second-fastest time in NCAA D-II history. The ASU track and field teams are hosting the annual David Noble Relays this week through Friday. See more details at angelosports.com and on the LSC website.

The Angelo State University Angelettes dance team won a national championship and had two other top placings at the recent ADTS American Dance Collegiate Nationals competition at the University of North Texas in Denton. The 12-member ASU Angelettes took first place in the Collegiate Division II Hip Hop competition to win the national championship. They also finished as second runner up in the Collegiate D-II Jazz competition and in the Collegiate D-II Overall standings. They posted the highest scores in team history on their way to winning the team's first-ever national title. See more details and a list of team members at angelo.edu/news.